Wall-Mounted Fiat Car as Ready-Made Conceptual Art?

The color-blocked Fiat by British conceptual artist Simon Starling, mounted on a wall at the New Museum in downtown New York City.

The artwork is part of an exhibition called “Ostalgia.” The red and white colors and composition on the car appear like the flag of Poland, where this Italian brand of car was completely rebuilt using parts made in Poland.

Much of Fiat’s manufacturing in the very late years of Eastern Europe’s Communist era was actually done in Poland. The car has become a symbol of Poland’s identity and of its pre-capitalist period of history.